The World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held in South Africa in December, is likely to be attended by a government delegation, although the usual Sri Lanka participant is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
Ministry of Higher Education media secretary Mangala Janaka told the Sunday Times that Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayaka has been invited to the event by the Sri Lanka embassy in South Africa.
According to Mr. Janaka, the Minister has not taken a final decision about attending the sessions.
Former JVP Member of Parliament Bimal Ratnayaka told the Sunday Times that the party was aware that Minister Dissanayaka was planning to lead a delegation to the event, at which education issues and youth problems will be taken up. He said the Socialist Youth Front, which is backed by the JVP, usually attends the festival, which is held once in four years.
Mr. Ratnayaka said the Socialist Youth Union, which is backed by the JVP, has been a regular participant at the event. The World Festival of Youth and Students is organised by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), a left-wing youth organisation, and the International Union of Students.
The first World Festival of Youth and Students was held in 1947, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, with 17,000 participants. The most recent event was held in 2005, in Caracas, Venezuela, with 25,000 participants.
The largest festival was the sixth, held in 1957 in Moscow, with 34,000 young people from 131 countries participating.
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